Mixing and filling apparatus



Dec. 30, 1947. A. 1. NELSON 2,433,478

MIXING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1943 4 Sheets-Shet 1 IN!'ENTOR.

Dec. 30,1947. A. l. NELSON I MIXING AND FILLING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet2 Filed Dec. 22, 1945 Dec, 30, 1947. A. l. NELSON 2,433,473

MIXING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1943 4 sheets-sheer:

dmbvjMow Dec. 30, 1947. L NELSON 2,433,478

r MIXING AND FILLING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 22, 1945 A 4 Sheets-SheetAlva/ecu latented Dec. 30, 1947 UNITED SATES AENT OFFICE eral FoodsCorporation corporation of Delaware New York, N. Y., a

Application December 22, 1943, SerialNo. 515,283

4. Claims. 7 1

This invention relates to apparatus for mixing and stirring materialsand for withdrawing therefrom measured quantities of a mixture ofuniform consistency for packaging or like purposes.

Apparatus embodying the invention is particularly adapted for handling amore or less soupy mixture of liquid and solid materials, although itwill be understood that the invention is not restricted to this use. Forpurposes of explanation, the following description refers to anapparatus for mixing and packaging baked beans in a soupy condition, i.e., mixed with juice in which the beans have been cooked. When such amixture is handled in large quantities in conjunction with a machinepackaging operation, the beans tend to settle and the problem arises ofdipping out or otherwise-withdrawing successive package charges whichare of the desired uniform proportions and consistency.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a novel apparatus foraccomplishin the above ends which is simple and inexpensive, but at thesame time thoroughly reliable and effective in operation.

Other objects are to provide novel means for mixing and stirring themixture to maintain a substantially uniform consistency and avoidsettling, for dipping out measured quantities of the mixture, and forautomatically dumping such measured quantities into packages in asimple, effective manner.

Several embodiments of 'the invention have been illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, but it is to be expressly understood that saiddrawings are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued as a definition of the limits of the invention, referencebeing had to the appended claims for this purpose.

In the drawings,

Fig, 1 is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail'view of a bucket or dipper;

Figs. 4 to inclusive illustrate successive positions of the apparatus inthe dumping operation;

Fig. 11 is a side view of another embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 12 is a plan view of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a detail of the buckets or dippers of Figs. 11 and 12;

Fig. 14 is a side view of a further embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 15 is a partial planview of Fig. 14.

In the iorm'shown inFigs, 1-3, the mixture of beans and juice-"issupplied inanysuitable manner to a container-or vessel ID in which thelevel I I may be maintained more or less constant. The container mayhave-any desired size and shape, being here shown as a shallow generallyoval basin. Part of the bottom of the container, however, comprises adiametrical strip l2 with a substantially cylindrical inner surface asshown in cross-section-in- Fig. 2.

Mounted over the container ls-a horizontal shaft l3 which is rotated byany suitable means in bearings M, the shaftbeing concentric orsubstantially so with the cylindrical strip 12. A suitable number ofstirring ormixing arms I 5 are carried by the shaft l3 and rotatedthereby through the mixture in-the container, the ends of said armspreferably traveling in a path close to the cylindrical surface I Z-andcarrying pivoted buckets or dippers l6-which scrape alongsaidcylindrical surface as the shaft rotates. For this purpose thearms l5may conveniently be arranged in pairs, one of the buckets it beingpivoted between the extremities of each pair.

The buckets iii are mounted so that their pivot axes are beneath theircenters of gravity, whether filled or empty, whereby said buckets tendto hang between the ends of the arms l5 with their open ends downward asshown in Figs. 2 and 10. This may readily be accomplished, for example,by securing pivot pins I! to the bottoms of the buckets and mounting theends of the piv- 'ot pins loosely in openings inthe extremities of thearms l5. Hence the open ends of the buckets are caused by gravityto'slide or scrapealong the cylindricalsurface 12, as shown in Fig. 2.If desired,'one ofthe sides of the buckets may be made longer'tha-n theother side to provide extending lips 18 whichcontact the cylindricalsurface. 7

Preferably the pivot pins l! are secured to the buckets somewhat to oneside of their centers of gravity, as shown in Fig, 3, so that thebuckets normally hang in the inclined position shown in Figs.-2 and 10.This'arrangement insuresthat the lips l8 engage the cylindrical surfacei2 as soon as they enter the container Hi (i. e., on the left as seen inFig. 2)." To prevent the lips l8 from overhanging and striking the edgeofthe container, adeflector plate l9 may be provided above the rim ofthe container as an extension of the strip I2;

As thebuckets iii-pass through the bottom of the container and slideupits side (i. e., to the right as seen in Fig.- 2) ,-=they approach adischarge chute depending-fromthe edgeof the container and beneath whichindividual packages 2| are placed in succession in any suitable manner.The dumping action whereby the buckets are emptied into these packagesis illustrated in Figs. 4-10. The buckets approach the chute 20 in theposition shown in Fig. 4 wherein the lips I8 have just passed the edge22 of the chute. As the arms l continue to rotate and the bottom of thebucket is elevated to the position of Fig. 5, the weight of the bucketand its contents causes it to rest on the edge 22 of the containeradjacent the chute, the bucket turning on its pivot pin H. In Fig. 6,the bucket has been turned to the horizontal position and alsopreferably slid laterally until the lip l8 projects a substantialdistance over said edge 22. It will be observed that this horizontalposition of the bucket, which may be considered to mark the beginning ofdumping, occurs when the arm I5 is considerably below its horizontalposition due to the location of the dumping edge 22 substantially belowthe horizontal plane of the shaft l3.

Hence on further rotation of the arms the edge 22 acts as a fulcrumabout which the bucket is turned to inverted position as shown in Figs.7 and 8, its open mouth extending down into the chute to empty itscontents into the waiting package. On still further rotation oi the arms15 the bucket is withdrawn from the chute and swings back to its freehanging position as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. During this rotation of thearm 15 up to its horizontal position, the bucket axis I1 is movingoutwardly as well as upwardly. The bucket axis rotates in an are closeto the cylindrical surface l2 as stated above; in other words, theradial distance between bucket axis l1 and shaft I3 is such that thebucket axis swings outwardly to a position vertically abov the dumpingedge as shown in Fig. 9 and even outside of the dumping edge as shown inFig. 10. Hence although the bucket hangs free as shown in Fig. 10,thedrip from the bucket is nevertheless directed against the inner wallof the chute. The outer wall of the chute may be extended upwardly at2-3 to form asplash guard if desired.

The arrangements described above materially extend the period duringwhich material from the bucket falls down the chute to the waitingpackage instead of back into the vessel It]. Moreover, they do so inspite of the fact that the bucket does not hang vertically because ofits 'ofiset axis. The direction of inclination of the bucket is such asto cause its edge to engage the vessel as it enters .(see left-hand sideof Fig. 2), in order to obtain the desired scraping and mixing effectsand also so that the bucket reaches .its horizontal and subsequentdumping positions sooner with respect to the position of the arm [5 (seeFig. 6 et'seqJ. When inclined in this direction, however, the tendencywould be for the bucket to swing back over the dumping edge as it passedfrom the position of Fig. 9 to that of Fig. 10 and to dump or drip backinto the vessel, wereit not for the position of the bucket axis 11relative to the dumping edge 22 as shown in .the latter figure.

The movement of the arms l5 through the mixture in the container l0mixes and stirs the mass and minimizes the tendency of the beans tosettle. Moreover, the accumulationof settled masses of beans on thebottom of the container is prevented by the scraping action of thebuckets H5, at leastin the region from which the mixture is withdrawnfor packaging. On the other hand, the buckets are filled by first movingthem down i 4 through the upper layers of the mass, then through thebottom, and finally up through the upper layers again. It has been foundin practice that the combination of these features results in fillingthe packages with charges of uniform consistency over long periods ofoperation of the apparatus, the supply in the container being graduallywithdrawnand replenished from time to time without anysubstantial.variation in the relative proportions of the mixture.

Furthermore the mixing, filling and dumping operations, while automaticand continuous, are accomplished by very simple and inexpensive means,with only one driven member, and without parts requiring-adjustment orservice whereby maintenance problems are reduced to a minimum.

It will be apparent that should it be desired to fill a number ofpackages simultaneously, a corresponding number of sets of arms 15 andbuckets It may be mounted side by side. On the other hand, it may bepreferable in such cases to employ apparatus of the type shown in Figs.11-13. Here the mixture of beans and juice is contained in a vessel orbasin '24 corresponding to the basin iii of Figs. 1-3 except that itsbottom strip 25 is wider than the strip I2. A shaftZB above the basin 24carries a plurality of pairs of arms 21 similar to the arms [5 of Figs.1-3 but spaced farther apart. Pivot pins or rods 28 are rotatablymounted in the ends of each pair of arms '21, the distance between thearms being sufiicient for each pin or rod to carry a plurality ofbuckets or dippers 29 here shown as two in number.

The buckets 29 ar preferably similar to the buckets iii of Figs. 1-3 andare secured to the rods 28 in a similar manner, each pair of bucketsdumping simultaneously. The deflector plate 3G corresponds to thedeflector plate 19 mentioned above, but is wider to accommodate the twobuckets. The discharge means comprises two similar chutes 3| side byside, one for each bucket, a common splash guard 32 being provided abovethe chutes if desired. Packages to be filled are placed below the mouthsof the chutes 3| in any suitable manner. As shown in Figs. .11 and 12, aline of packages 33 is conveyed under the chutes by a suitable conveyor34, the empty packages being filled two at a time and the filledpackages being carried away by the conveyor.

Figs. 14 and 15 illustrat another embodiment of the invention in which aplurality ofpac'kages are filled simultaneously while at the same timean improved mixing and stirring action .is obtained'by arrangingapluralityof units such .as shown in'Figs. 1 3 with the adjacent unitsrotating in opposite directions. Any suitable number of such units canbe employed, two being shown in the drawings for purposes ofillustration.

Referring to Figs. .14 and 15, a 'basin35 such as described above isprovided with a bottom strip 36 .wide enough to accommodate the twounits one of which comprises pairs of arms -31 and pivoted buckets 38and the other pairs of arms 39 and pivoted buckets 40 similar to thosedescribed above. As shown, .these units are r0- tated 'in oppositedirections by shafts 4| and 42 the inner ends of which are mounted in acommon centerbearing 43, the unit 31., .38 rotating clockwise and theunit 39, 40 counterclockwise as indicated by the arrows. The strip 36extends beyond the rim of the basin at the'left-hand side-of thesefiguresto provide a deflectorplate 44 for the unit 39, llfl and a-chute45iorthe unit 2138 which leads to the packages 46 to be filled. At therighthand side of these figures, a deflector plate 41 and a chute 48 aresimilarly provided for the units 37, 38 and 39, 40 respectively, thechute 4'! leading to the packages 49 to be filled. It will be understoodfrom the foregoing description that the packages 46 and 49 may becarried on suitable conveyors 50 and 5! if desired and that theconveyors may each move in either direction as may be convenient.

Hence the apparatus of Figs. 13 and 14 not only provides for filling aplurality of packages simultaneously, but also increases the stirringand mixing action obtained with apparatus as shown in Figs. 1-3 and -12clue to the fact that the arms rotate past one another in oppositedirections through the mass.

While only three embodiments of the invention have been described andillustrated in the drawings, it Will be understood that the invention iscapable of a variety of mechanical expressions and that various changesmay be made in the form, details of construction, and arrangement of theparts without departing from its spirit. Reference should therefore behad to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the class described comprising a container having asubstantially cylindrical inner surface, a stirring arm continuouslyrotatable through said container about a horizontal axis substantiallyconcentric with said cylindrical surface, and a bucket pivotallyconnected to the extremity of said arm on an axis extendingsubstantially parallel to said first axis and beneath the center ofgravity of said bucket, said bucket entering the container at one side,moving through the container with its forward end resting by gravity onsaid cylindrical surface, and dumping by gravity over the edge of saidcontainer at its opposite side as it moves out of the container, saiddumping edge being substantially below a horizontal plane through theaxis of said arm and the radius of said bucket axis from the axis ofsaid arm being great enough so that said bucket axis moves outwardlyabove the dumping edge at least far enough to be substantiallyvertically above said dumping edge.

2. Apparatus of the class described comprising a container having asubstantially cylindrical in ner surface, a stirring arm continuouslyrotatable about a horizontal axis substantially concentric with saidsurface, and a bucket pivotally connected to said arm about an axisextending substantially parallel to said first axis and beneath thecenter of gravity of the bucket, said bucket entering the container withits forward end resting by gravity on said cylindrical surface, anddumping by gravity over the edge of the container at its opposite sideas it moves out of said container, said dumping edge being substantiallybelow a horizontal plane through the axis of said arm, the pivot axis ofsaid bucket being also lo cated at one side of its center of gravitywhereby the bucket in its free hanging position is inverted and inclinedtoward that side of the container on which it enters the container forengagement with said cylindrical surface, and the radius of the bucketaxis from the axis of the arm being great enough that said bucket axismoves outwardly above the dumping edge at least far enough to besubstantially vertically above said edge whereby said bucket is fullyinverted to dump its contents over said edge.

3. Apparatus of the class described comprising a container having asubstantially cylindrical inner surface, a plurality of stirring armscontinuously rotatable through said container in opposite directionsabout a horizontal axis substantially concentric with said cylindricalsurface, and a bucket pivotally connected to the extremity of each armwith a substantially horizontal pivot axis beneath its center ofgravity, each bucket entering the container at one side, moving throughthe container with its forward end resting by gravity on saidcylindrical surface, and dumping by gravity over the edge of thecontainer at its opposite side as it moves out of said container,whereby buckets are dumped over opposite edges of the container, saiddumping edges being substantially below the horizontal plane through theaxis of said arms, and the radii of the bucket axes from the axis ofsaid arms being great enough that said bucket axes move outwardly abovetheir respective dumping edges at least far enough to be substantiallyvertically above said dumping edges.

4. Apparatus of the class described comprising a container having asubstantially cylindrical inner surface, a plurality of stirring armscontinuously rotatable through said container in opposite directionsabout a horizontal axis substantially concentric with said cylindricalsurface, and a bucket pivotally connected to the extremity of each armwith a substantially horizontal pivot axis beneath its center ofgravity, each bucket entering the container at one side, moving throughthe container with its forward end resting by gravity on saidcylindrical surface, and dumping by gravity over the edge of thecontainer at its opposite side as it moves out of said container,whereby buckets are dumped over opposite edges of the container, saiddumping edges being substantially below the horizontal plane through theaxis of said arms, the pivot axes of said buckets being also located atone side of their centers of gravity whereby each bucket in free hangingposition is inverted and inclined toward that side of the container onwhich it enters the container for engagement with said cylindricalsurface, and the radii of the bucket axes from the axis of said armsbeing great enough that said bucket axes move outwardly above theirrespective dumping edges at least far enough to be substantiallyvertically above said dumping edges.

ALVIN I. NELSON.

REFERENCE S CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 928,230 Williamson July 13, 1909936,170 Rulison Oct. 5, 1909 1,185,865 Bates June 6, 1916

